


Sharp Truths

by PrincessAmericaChavez



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I'm so sorry, Injury, No Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-29 14:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/pseuds/PrincessAmericaChavez
Summary: And then he saw her face."Ma- Marinette?" He mumbled, wide eyed, as he looked up at the girl pinning him down."Are- are you okay?" She asked, as her eyes frantically examined him.He couldn't find his own voice. His brain was still trying to catch up to the fact that he'd been tackled —that he'd been saved— by Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was still looking at him with a furrowed brow, breathing heavily."Adrien?" She asked again, her voice surprisingly in control.Oh. Right. He closed his gapping mouth and quickly nodded.





	1. I

The akuma came out of nowhere. As they usually did. Honestly, nowadays Adrien was more surprised by the days in which they could finish the whole school day without an interruption. With his luck, going out in a school trip had almost been pushing for it. 

And yet,  _this_ akuma,  _really_ came out of nowhere. It was almost as if it'd materialized right there, in the middle of the street. Its body was thin and elegant, glinting silver in the sunlight. It's limbs were elegant and sharp at the edges, hands and feet replaced by long daggers. When it moved, it looked like it danced ballet. It had no eyes or face aside from an ever-grinning mouth filled with too many teeth. It was like something out of a nightmare. 

The street's shocked silence was broken by a sharp scream, which was apparently the cue everyone needed to move. Everyone on the streets ran away to the nearest buildings and down the alleys, as far away as they could. Adrien heard their teacher urging them to do the same. He turned his back on the akuma, pushing Nino forward to make sure he got out of the way. Next to them, he could hear Marinette struggling with Alya, who was too busy transmitting live to move. The shorter girl had an arm wrapped around the other's waist and was dragging her way. 

"Alya, not now," he heard her huff. 

Nino ran out of Adrien's grasp and hurried towards his girlfriend, helping move her out of danger. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Alya complained. "It was right  _there_."

"Yeah, I noticed, that's why we're running away from it!" Nino replied, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. 

The akuma threw it's first attack. Luckily, it wasn't directed at them. Adrien heard a sharp  _soowsh_ followed by a line of cars being impaled by a rain of blades. Adrien swallowed hard. Okay, that was terrifying. 

"Go, go, go!" Nino cried, though there was no need. Alya wasn't putting much resistance anymore. She followed along as fast as the others. Which was exactly what Adrien needed. He slowed down enough to stay behind the group and once he was he took a sharp turn to the right to the nearest alley. He needed a good hiding place to transform. 

"Adrien! Watch out!" a familiar voice screamed. His lady.

He heard the air  _swoosh_ behind him. He kept running. 

Something sharp tackled him from the side.

He felt the air knocked out of his lungs as he hit the floor. He was aware of two things: a thin elbow awkwardly pressed against his side and familiar dark hair right under his chin. Ladybug. Thank god. He held on to her waist tightly as they rolled down the street until he was laying flat on his back. His lady was tucked on top of him, so tight he could feel her frantic heartbeat against his chest. Her rapid breathing against his neck. 

 _Don't. Not right now,_ he scolded himself as the girl pushed herself up with her hands. 

And then he saw her face. 

"Ma- Marinette?" He mumbled, wide eyed, as he looked up at the girl pinning him down. 

"Are- are you okay?" She asked, as her eyes frantically examined him. 

He couldn't find his own voice. His brain was still trying to catch up to the fact that he'd been tackled —that he'd been  _saved—_ by Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was still looking at him with a furrowed brow, breathing heavily.

"Adrien?" She asked again, her voice surprisingly in control. 

Oh. Right. He closed his gapping mouth and quickly nodded. 

Marinette sighed relieved. Then, her face finally turned that shade of pink that Adrien knew by heart. It was the only thing that  _actually_ seemed normal right now. 

Immediately, she started the motion to get off of him, but as soon as she lifted her left arm, she winced. Pain twisted her features as she collapsed on top of him, tightly curled onto himself. 

Adrien felt his blood run cold as he felt her fall by his side.

"Marinette?!" He sat up quickly to look at her. She didn't move. With her arms pressed against her stomach and her knees pulled all the way up to her chest, her eyes tightly closed as if she was shutting the rest of the world out. "Marinette, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked, frantically hovering his hands over her body without daring to touch her. She didn't even react to his voice. "C'mon, talk to me," he asked quietly. No luck. 

Another nearby  _swoosh._ The cars next to them shook when they received the raining daggers. Adrien instinctively threw his body on top of Marinette's trying to shield her. Again, she didn't move. 

_Shit._

"We have to get out of here," he told her quickly, hands still hovering. "We have to move. Ma- Mari? I'm going to move you now, okay. Just- Just hold on," he rambled as he swooped her into his arms. He heard her groan, quietly, in the back of her throat, like she was trying to smother any sound. 

Raising up to his feet, Adrien rushed into the alley he'd been aiming for all along.  _Idiot. What an idiot. Why had he done that?_

He ran deep into the alley, where the daggers could hopefully not reach, and knelt down, carefully putting Marientte on the floor. 

"I'm gonna sit you up, okay?" He asked gently. 

She finally moved, only to nod, her eyes still tightly closed. Carefully, Adrien put a hand behind her back and helped her up until her shoulders were pressed against the wall. 

That's when he saw the blood, covering her pink blouse. 

"No," he hissed. "No, no, no, no, no."

Marinette finally opened her eyes to look at him, then down at her blood stained clothes. 

" _Crap_." She sounded almost annoyed, like getting stabbed was a minor inconvenience, but her face looked pale and pained. 

"Mari,why would you do that?!" He asked, nervously. His voice sounded a little more panicky than he'd intended it too. Of course he was panicking though. Marinette was here, bleeding in an alley while an akuma kept attacking. Others could be hurt. It could've been him if it wasn't for her. "What were you thinking?!" 

"I wasn't," she huffed, and he was again shocked by the apparent calm in her voice. 

Okay. Calm. Calm down, Adrien. If she could be calm, so could he. He  _had_ to be. She was probably terrified right now —heavens knew  _he_ was—, she didn't need him losing his mind. She didn't need  _him._ She needed Chat. Chat would be very useful right now, would know what to say. He- He could do that. 

"We need to stop the bleeding," he said taking of his white shirt and pressing it into a tight ball. "Press this tightly against the wound," he instructed.

"You- you're gonna ruin your shirt," she mumbled, not grabbing it. 

Adrien gave her a bewildered look. She had to be kidding. Except she seemed honestly worried. 

"I don't care," he said softly. "It's just a shirt. Just grab it.  _Please._ "

Marinette grabbed it reluctantly and brought it towards the wound. Her hands trembled before making contact. He saw her close her eyes right before, strangling another pained cry in the back of her throat. A couple tears rolled down her cheeks and Adrien felt like something inside him would break in a million pieces. 

"That's good, Marinette. Put pressure on it," he said, carefully putting his hand on top of hers and helping her press tightly. A louder cry escaped her tight lips and he had to swallow the urge to let go of her. He couldn't. He knew she had to keep pressure on it, even if it hurt. "You're doing great," he said, and his voice finally sounded soothing. "Keep pressing. It's gonna be okay."

He had to get her out of here. 

He started getting up when a small hand clutched his wrist tightly. 

"Don't," Marinette pleaded, looking up at him desperately. Her eyes were tearful. She looked terrified. His knees almost gave up with sorrow.

"I'm not leaving you," he assured her quietly, crouching back down and putting a careful hand on her shoulder. "I'm just gonna get help."

"Don't," she begged again, tightening her hold of his wrist. "It's- you're gonna... get hurt..."

His eyebrows arched as his brain yet again tried to catch up with the new information it got. She was sitting there, bleeding and terrified, and she was worried about  _him._

"I'll be fine," he whispered, giving her his best Chat Noir smile. "I promise. I'm sure Ladybug must have the situation under control already."

That didn't seem to work. Marinette made another sound that half felt like a smothered sob. 

"It's okay, Mari. Really. You just stay here, okay? I'll get Ladybug," he told her as he quickly rose to his feet. 

Looking at her like this, so small and alone and scared in the middle of the dark alley, he almost couldn't bring himself to leave, even knowing it was for the best. Adrien Agreste was no good for her right now, not what she needed. So he forced himself to turn around and run back towards the street. 

"Chat!" She called. 

Adrien's blood ran cold as he came to a sharp stop. He turned over his shoulder, looking at her, feeling his head spin. 

She wasn't looking at him, though. Her eyes were closed again and she suddenly looked very tired. 

"What?" He asked, his voice barely a scared squeak. 

"You have to call... call Chat," she mumbled.

Oh. 

Yes, good. 

Chat Noir. He could give her Chat Noir.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marinette you can't go like this!" Tikki rushed to fly in front of her. 
> 
> "I have to," she insisted. "Chat needs me. B- Besides, otherwise there's no cure, remember? I have to purify the akuma."
> 
> "But Marinette-"
> 
> "I have to, Tikki," she insisted. "Can you help me?"

"Marinette! You're hurt!" Tikki flew out of her bag as soon as they were alone. 

"It's okay, Tikki. I'll be fine," she tried to reassure her kwami, despite the pain being quite blinding. She could feel droplets of cold sweat forming on her forehead. 

"Without Ladybug, there'll be no Miraculous Cure, Marinette," the little red bug insisted, looking at her with big worried eyes. 

"Then, I guess... I'll have to d- defeat the akuma," she smiled tiredly at Tikki. 

"You ca-"

"Hide!" She huffed, pushing her back into the bag as a pair of steps approached. The sudden movement made her groan and bend over in pain. 

Just in time, a pair of black boots landed in front of her. 

"Hello there, Princess," Chat greeted, crouching down in front of her. Just having him here —her best friend, her partner, her ally— made relief flood her chest. Even if he was looking at her with worried kitty eyes. 

"Hey, Chat. Busy day?" She asked, a little breathless.

"I've had better," he replied, lightly despite the heaviness in his eyes. "Let's get you out of here, okay?"

She nodded. 

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her. It wasn't hard to find her place in his arms, despite the pain. 

"Wait," she huffed, grabbing onto his collar. "Adrien... he was here too..."

"He's okay, little lady," Chat said gently. "I left him well hidden. Besides, I can only carry one of you at the time."

Before she could complain, he jumped. She held on tighter to him as they rose towards the rooftops, bracing herself for the landing pain... that didn't arrive. Chat was surprisingly light on his feet as he ran and jumped from one building to the other until he finally stopped. 

"You should be safe here for now," he said, gently putting her down. "Just stay here, okay? Ladybug and I will defeat this akuma and then you'll be okay. I promise."

She looked at him sadly. He really had no idea. 

"Okay," she sighed. 

She knew Chat well enough to see how he hesitated, like he wanted to stay here with her instead.  _Don't you dare, silly cat. You need me to transform,_ she wanted to scream. Finally, after giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, he stood up and turned around to leave the rooftop. 

"Chat!" She called, her voice maybe a little too close to the edge of desperation. He paused and looked at her, tense. "Adrien... The- the boy that was with me... please make sure he's safe."

Chat Noir dropped his shoulders, his face falling into a softer look. 

"You really care about him," he pointed out, not even a question. 

"I- I-" Marinette jumped, just about to deny it, but this was Chat, she trusted him more than anyone in the world, and she was maybe a little light headed from the blood loss, so all she finally did was nod solemnly. 

"I will look after him, Princess," Chat promised with a tight simile before jumping and heading away. 

"Thank you," she murmured, even if he couldn't hear her anymore. "C'mon, Tikki- we gotta help," she groaned, slowly pushing herself up on her feet. Adrien's blood stained shirt fell to the floor.

"Marinette you can't go like this!" Tikki rushed to fly in front of her. 

"I have to," she insisted. "Chat needs me. B- Besides, otherwise there's no cure, remember? I have to purify the akuma."

"But Marinette-"

"I  _have_ to, Tikki," she insisted. "Can you help me?" 

The little kwami sighed heavily and shook her head. 

"I can," she whispered. "I can make the pain go away, help you hold on... but it is not a fix, Marinette. It will take a lot of energy, and your transformation won't last long."

"Okay," Marinette nodded.

"But it could make you worse," Tikki insisted.

"They need me, Tikki. It's worth the risk. Spots on!"

* * *

 

_Swoosh._

The daggers are heading straight to Chat as she swings by with her yo-yo and carries him out of their way. They land on a wall, cracking it with ease.

"Missed me, Chaton?" She asks as she lands next to him, ignoring the sting of pain that crawls up her stomach. It's much less than before, she can stand and she can move, but it's not like the wound is  _gone._

"Greatly, My Lady. I'm so glad you're here," Chat says with a wide honest smile. "We need to get rid of this akuma,  _fast."_

She couldn't agree more. She starts spinning her yo-yo.

"Where's the akuma?"

"I don't know," Chat admits. "Maybe her shoes?"

Ladybug looked at the curious way the Akuma moved, like she was dancing on the tips of her toes. Dancing shoes. 

"Alright, then we have to-"

"Watch out!" Chat pulled her down, flat against the floor, just as the akuma did an elegant twirl, her leg throwing blades all around. 

_Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh._

Ladybug could hear them flying over her head. Her main concern, though, was the flare of pain the sudden movement had brought her. She groaned, bringing a hand up to where the concealed wound was. 

"My lady!" Chat hurried to her side as soon as the blades stopped. "Are you alright?!"

She looked up and sent him a quick smile. 

"I'm alright, Kitty. Don't worry. Just had the air knocked out of my lungs."

She felt a pang of guilt when he sighed relieved. 

The street was unusually quiet. 

"That's it!" She said, smile growing wider. "It has to pause and recharge before every attack. That's when we can strike!"

"Good thinking as usual, Bugaboo," Chat said, standing up. 

"Wait until her attack," she said, standing up slowly. "Then attack as soon as it's over."

With a new elegant movement, the akuma got ready to attack. Chat and Ladybug jumped out of the way, each hiding behind a different car as the daggers rained on them. 

She heard her earrings beep. 

_Dammit._

"Go!" Chat screamed when the attack stopped. She followed him, jumping over the car —ignoring the burning pain— and running towards the akuma. She threw her yoyo at her feet, just as Chat delivered a blow. The dancer tripped and fell down with a screech. 

"The shoes!" Marinette screamed at Chat, who was closer. She saw his friend reaching down and pulling at the sharp feet to no avail. 

"It's not that!" He screamed back, his voice nearly cracking with what she recognized as desperation. 

Before they could try something else, the akuma vanished. Just as suddenly as it'd appeared. 

"Wha- what?!" Chat screamed. "That can't- It can't- It just-"

"Where did it go?" Ladybug asked, looking around. 

Her hearings beeped again. 

_Shit._

"It could be anywhere," Chat Noir hissed. 

She turned and looked at him surprised by his anger. 

"We will find it, Chaton. I promise but-"

Another beep. She instinctively covered her ears. 

"I have to go. We'll keep looking. I promise," she said, hurrying off before he could say much more. 

She had to get back to the rooftop. 

Another beep. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw Chat hurrying back to the building too. She'd never make it on time. He'd see her detransform. 

Thinking on her toes, she entered the building through the last floor rather than the rooftop and hurried up the stairs.

Just before she could get to the roof door, she felt her body give up on her. Sparks flied around her as her suit disappeared, and as soon as it did so did her strength. Her knees gave up and she collapsed on the stairs, barely managing to hold on to the wall for support. She screamed when the pain hit her again, bringing a hand up to hold her open wound.

"I'm... I'm sorry... Marinette... I couldn't hold..."

"It's ...okay, Tikki. I'm... sorry... It's okay," she said, catching her tired kwami with her free trembling hand.

The pain barely allowed her to talk. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. 

"Marinette??!!" Chat's voice sounded so far away, outside on the rooftop. Just a few feet more and she could've reached him. "Marinette?!"

She tried to call him but only a small strangled sound left her lips. 

Breathing rapidly, she closed her eyes, tried to focus. 

Through her eyelids, the world suddenly turned bright. The door. It'd open. 

"Marinette," Chat's voice was gentle as he hurried down towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"I- hiding... I thought it'd be... safe..." she managed, opening her eyes to look at him, offering a tired smile. 

"The akuma. It's still out there. We couldn't-"

"It's okay. It's okay, Chat. It's not your fault," she reassured him, though her voice sounded far away to her own ears.

"I have to take you to the hospital," he decided firmly, grabbing onto her. She whined at the pain of being moved, burrowing her face against his shoulder to hide the tears that overcame her. "I'm sorry. I'll get you there as fast as I can. Just stay with me, okay?"

"Always, kitty," she mumbled, even as her eyes began to close. 

She could feel the air on her face as they started to move, but after that the world turned into a dark blur. 

Her last thought before passing out was peaceful. Her partner was here. Everything would be okay.


	3. III

_Okay. You can do this._

No. No he couldn't. Chat's hand stopped just shy form the window's handle and pulled back as he pressed his back back against the building's outside wall. He couldn't do this. He couldn't face Marinette. Not knowing that she'd been hurt protecting him, all because she had no idea who he was, what he was capable of. She'd gotten hurt protecting Adrien, just because he was her friend. Because she  _cared,_ she'd told him so herself. All this time, longing for someone to care so much, and now he had it... he had it and it'd just resulted on her getting hurt because of him. He couldn't do this.

He took a deep breath, prepared himself to jump back into the night's lonely darkness. Then, he heard a voice.

"Who's there?"

He froze. Then scrambled to regain his balance, waving his arms until he managed to hold on to the hospital's wall again. 

"Who's there?" Marinette repeated and, despite the weakness of her voice, he recognized some tension in it. 

He considered running away, pretending like he'd never been here... but something about her tone kept him in place. She sounded tense —probably scared—, if he left now she'd be left wondering what that'd been. She was probably afraid of another akuma. 

"It's- It's just me!" He managed to reply. 

There was a beat of silence. 

"Chat Noir?"

"Yeah..." slowly, he peeked in. 

The room was still empty aside from the bed where Marinette laid. Her parents were outside in a waiting room, after being instructed to let her sleep and recover. He knew because he'd been standing at that damn window for over forty minutes, trying to work up the courage to get inside. 

_Well, no going back now._

Slowly, he opened the window and jumped in, all the while followed by Marinette's curious eyes. 

"Hi," was his brilliant start. 

"Hi," she said back, though it somehow managed to sound like a question. 

"I, hum... I wanted to come and check on you," he explained, rubbing the back of his head and not meeting her eyes. "After what happened. I just- I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm okay," she said, reassuring. "Thanks for bringing me here."

He still couldn't understand how she'd managed to sound so calm, even now. With everything she'd gone through. She shouldn't have to deal with this. She shouldn't be hurt. She should be safe at home while him and Ladybug dealt with the akuma. This was their burden, not hers. 

"Chat?"

"Uh?" He looked up, realizing suddenly how quiet he'd gone. 

She looked worried. 

"Is everyone okay?" She asked, brow furrowed. She didn't sound calm anymore. 

He was doing a shitty job at being reassuring.  _Game face on, Kitty,_ he could hear his lady on his head. That helped. He put on his best cheshire smile. 

"Of course they are, little lady," he said, walking closer to the bed. He pulled out his staff and leaned on it casually. "Ladybug and I had it all under control."

Marinette sighed relieved. 

"That's good," she nodded. "After I passed out, I wasn't sure..."

"Yeah, gave me quite a scare back there," he said, forcing a chuckle to hide the way his stomach twisted at the memory of her going limp in his arms. "Really, Princess, you should leave the rescuing to the superheroes. No more jumping into danger like that."

She rolled her eyes. "Can't make any promises."

That made him frown. Why on earth was she taking this so lightly?!

"I'm serious, Marinette," he said firmly, as worry twisted itself into anger inside his stomach. "You can't do the things we do. What you did today was very brave but-"

"I wasn't brave," she interrupted abruptly. 

"What?"

"I wasn't... I wasn't trying to be brave. I was scared. I was so  _scared,_ Chat," she said, not meeting his eyes. She kept looking at her hands, as they tightly twisted the hospital bedsheets. In the moonlight, he could see the glint of tears welling in her eyes.

Of course she'd been scared —he tells himself—, just because she'd seemed so calm, doesn't mean she didn't hurt. Adrien wanted to kick himself. God, he was an ass.

"Mari-"

"I saw the daggers coming at him," she went on, as if talking to herself. "I thought he was gonna... I couldn't just stand there... he almost-" she choked. 

Oh. 

_Oh._

He sat on the edge of her bed, mainly because his knees all but gave up on him as he tried to process what she was saying. Marinette didn't look at him, busy cleaning her face with the back of her hands. 

"I still see it... I close my eyes..."

There was a particular part inside Adrien —a part he'd pretty much ignored since last Christmas— that wanted to  _scream._ He wanted to punch something, _break_ something, do anything to stop feeling the pain that suddenly burned inside his chest. To, at the very least, stop the pain in Marinette's words. 

He did none of it. 

All he managed to do was hold one of her hands tightly. 

"He's okay," he assured her. "I promise. He's alright. You saved his life."

Marinette looked up at him, bottom lip trembling. It was so much, too much. Adrien couldn't look away despite how much it hurt seeing her like this. Marinette was always happy and bright and sure of herself —when she wasn't rambling on about things he didn't alway s understand. He'd never seen her like this. He didn't want to see her like this ever again.

"Adrien is very lucky to have a friend like you," he said suddenly, honestly, with all his heart. 

That didn't cheer Marinette up. She wasn't crying anymore, but she still looked down and shrugged dismissively. He tightened his hold of her hand. 

"I'm serious. He's lucky to have you."

He could've lost you. 

_I could've lost you._

He suddenly wondered how he could have lived if that'd happened. The idea was just too terrible to bare.

"Ladybug is lucky too," Marinette mumbled suddenly. Even in the pale moonlight, he thought he recognized some redness in her cheeks. 

"What?" He jumped, not following her thoughts. 

"I mean- I've- I've seen it, in the Lady-blog. You've saved her a lot of times, even risking your life. She's- she's lucky to have you too."

Chat blinked. 

That-

It hadn't occurred to him. Not really. He rarely thought about those times, he just leaped. Like his body had a magnet, a mechanism that reacted before his head even did. The thought of seeing his Ladybug harmed was just too much to bare. No matter how he played it in his head, her safety won every time. He didn't even think. 

 _What were you thinking?!_ He'd asked Marinette earlier.  _I wasn't,_ had been her answer. 

Something in the back of his mind jumped with alarm  _DING DING DING_ as if he'd suddenly gotten an answer in a big television competition. He was too tired to really know what the answer was. He didn't even know the question.

"I should let you rest," he finally said, standing up. He was starting to feel a little dizzy.

Marinette nodded. 

"Thanks for coming, Chat."

"Of course," he smiled at her. "And I'm serious, Princess, no more adventures for you. Stay safe."

She huffed a laugh. 

He didn't see how that was funny. Maybe it was just the anesthetics that made Marinette react like that. Better let her rest while him and Ladybug dealt with this akuma. The sooner it was gone, the better.

* * *

 It'd been a long night. 

Catching the akuma had proved harder than he'd expected. 

Finding it had taken him a while, and when Ladybug finally arrived it'd seemed to him that she was slower than usual, just as before. He didn't linger on that, too focused on getting this akuma back. He fought harder and faster than he ever remembered doing so and in the end it'd paid off. 

After Ladybug had purified the akuma and released her Miraculous cure, he'd all but collapsed on the floor, panting, too tired to even fist-bump her. 

"You okay, Minou?" She'd asked, leaning over him. 

"It's been a long day," he whined. 

"You look like you need a cat nap," she'd smiled down, offering a hand. He took it and let her lift him up to his feet. "Good job today, kitty," she said, ruffling his hair. "Get some rest."

Whatever had felt off about her, was gone. She was back to her usual self, but he had no time to linger on that because his whole body ached for sleep. With a quick goodbye, he disappeared into the Parisian rooftops.

* * *

 

"Marinette!"

He heard the cry even before he saw her walk through the school's door. The rest of their classmates rushed towards her, loaded with questions. He stayed on the sidelines, listening intently without meaning to intrude.

"Thank you!"

"Yes, I'm okay now."

"No, even the stitches are gone."

"Really. I'm fine."

He finally allowed relief to flood him. After defeating the akuma he'd hoped... but he hadn't dared going back to the hospital. He just couldn't bring himself to face... whatever it was he'd felt before. He thought he wasn't strong enough. Now, though, looking at her, chickening out was not an option. 

"Okay, everyone, let my girl breathe," Alya finally pushed them all away, an arm protectively hooked around Marinette's shoulders and a fierce look on her face, daring them to fight her on it. No one did. Slowly, they started to retreat towards the classroom. 

"Thanks," he heard Marinette whisper. 

In the end, it was just the two girls standing in the entrance. And him. He hadn't moved an inch. 

"He- Hello, Adrien!" She jumped when she saw him, as if it was any other day. As if she hadn't saved his life yesterday and nearly lost hers in the process. 

"Hi, Marinette. Can we- Can we talk?" He mumbled, hands shoved into his pockets as he cautiously approached them. He sent Alya a pleading look but, for some reason, the girl gave in almost immediately. 

"I'll see you inside," she said, giving Marinette's shoulder one last squeeze —a little shaky, a little too tight, a little  _please never do that again_ — before leaving. 

Silence spread between the two of them once they were alone. 

"So..."

"So..."

Both of them stopped abruptly as the other talked. He felt his cheeks burn. Marinette's face blushed as she averted his eyes, like he'd done the night before... as she cried... as she inadvertently told him how terrified she'd been... for him... 

Something clicked inside Adrien. Something he had no name for yet. Something that made him reach out and wrap his arms around Marinette, hugging her tightly. 

He heard her squeak in surprise, tense in his arms. He didn't let go. Not yet. He just had to feel her here, alive and complete.

Slowly, she relaxed, bringing her arms up to hug him back, if hesitantly. 

Adrien pulled back, his hands still holding her shoulders as he looked at her.

"I'm glad you're alright," he said.

It didn't seem like enough, but it was all he had right now. Words weren't forming in his mouth, not now that he needed them so badly. 

Marinette opened her mouth, but no rambling string of words came out of it. Instead, she ducked her head and gave him a look he'd only seen once before: the day they met. 

"Thanks," she said, quietly. 

He took in a deep breath. 

"Just... please never do that again," he finally said. She gave him a shocked look. "I don't want to lose you."

Marinette just stared at him, eyes and mouth wide open. 

And she stared. 

And stared. 

And just when he was starting to regret his words, she straightened up and smiled. 

"You won't. I promise," she said firmly.

He smiled back, even if a little uneasy. That wasn't really reassuring —not with the way she'd kinda ignored his request— but he guessed it was the best he would get for now. 

The bell rang, startling them both. 

"We better go to class, right?" He laughed, a little nervous. 

"Ye- Yes. Class. Totally should class run. I mean, class to run. I mean, run to class," she jumped, shaking her head as if trying to resettle her ideas. 

It was cute enough to make him chuckle, dissipating the tension in his chest.

_It's okay. She's okay._

And things were finally back to normal. Mostly. If he ignored that new thing inside his chest that he couldn't quite name yet. 

 


End file.
